Newsletters can be a powerful tool both for your organization's fundraising and stewardship efforts. Often newsletters can raise just as much - if not more - than your solicitations. And...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#7)
Recency is key in direct mail fundraising. Most nonprofit board members and executives (and even some fundraisers) don't want to believe it, but your best potential donors are those who...
41 Trillion Reasons You Should Have a Monthly Giving Program
Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy estimates as much as $41 trillion in intergenerational wealth transfer will take place by 2052. Not all of those assets will transfer from...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#6)
If you want to acquire donors at a higher average gift level, start testing catalog subscriber files. You'll get lower response rates (because these people aren't necessarily qualified charitable donors),...
Maximizing Middle Donors
What's a middle donor? And how do we market to them? How are they different from the rest of our donors? I've been answering these questions a lot lately. At...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#5)
Direct mail fundraising is counter-intuitive. Chances are that you, your board and others on staff have opinions about your direct mail program. And chances are even better (in fact, close...
5 Ways Your Brand Can Destroy Your Fundraising Results
I've been talking about nonprofit branding a lot lately with organizations all over the country. Seems brand strategy is top of mind once again for organizations trying to raise their...
Fundraising tips from #russreid2012
Here are some great quick fundraising tips I picked up at Russ Reid's 22nd Annual Missions Leadership & Development conference last week. The event took place in beautiful Newport Beach,...
Direct Mail Fundraising Tip of the Week (#4)
Write your direct mail letter like you'd write to a close friend. Make it warm, personal and informal. Adhering to the APA and MLA style guides might make the brand...
The 3 E’s of Nonprofit Board Responsibility
Engage. Evaluate. Evangelize. There are many qualities you want in board members - and many responsibilities they need to be ready to assume. Three of the most important responsibilities are...